


The Human Resources Department

by pryxis



Series: The Human Resources Department [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Take Your Fandom to Work Day, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-27 11:10:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7615750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pryxis/pseuds/pryxis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark meets someone in his HR department. It's not exactly what he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Human Resources Department

Tony would like to say that he never got lost in the building he built, but the truth of the matter was that it happened more often than he cared to admit.

 

It only took getting off the wrong floor and a couple of wrong turns among the beige colored walls that were the administrative floors of Stark Industries and what was supposed to be a mildly irritating trip to Legal turned into an exercise in frustration.

 

Tony refused, refused to ask for directions in his own goddamn building, so he wandered the halls until he wandered in front of a frosted glass door that looked the same as all the rest.

 

_Department of Human Resources_

 

Huh.

 

He wonders if there was another version of the woman he met after the BARF demonstration behind that door, toiling away at a job she clearly didn’t like for the sake of her family. If that story too, would end in tragedy. Manhattan wasn’t the safest place to work in, thanks in no small part to him and the rest of the Avengers.

 

He’s distracted from his thoughts by a young woman in an ill-fitting suit running out the door, a smile on her face. “Don’t stay too late boss lady!”

 

“Go home Claudia!”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” says Claudia as she adjusts her backpack. She pauses when she sees him outside the door, opens her mouth and then shuts it once she recognizes exactly who it is standing out side her office door.

 

She stands there and gapes at him for a second before looking at her watch.

 

“It’s five on a Friday and I don’t get paid enough,” she mutters as she brushes past him without giving him a second look.

 

Tony stands there, looking at Claudia’s retreating form, not really believing what just happened. He's interrupted from his gaping by someone coming to the door. 

 

“I swear Claudia, if you’re not headed home- Oh. Mr. Stark.”

 

Tony manages to focus enough to see who’s addressing him. It’s a woman in her mid 30s, with wild hair swept up in a messy bun. The dark circles under her eyes match his.

 

“How can I help you?”

 

The question escapes him before he has the chance to rein it in. “Is your job boring?”

 

She looks at him in confusion and Tony wishes he could take it back. He’s not in the habit of harassing his employees really, it’s just been a couple of weeks where he hasn’t really been doing well and too much time in the lab has a habit of completely ruining all his social interaction skills.

 

“You realize that you’re saying all that out loud right?”

 

Tony pinches the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. “Oh Jesus, just ignore me. It’s been a… rough couple of weeks.”

 

She arches an eyebrow, reminding him so much Pepper he feels sick.

 

“I do keep up with the news Mr. Stark.” Sighing, she opens the door of the office wider and gestures inside.

 

“Come inside. We’re attracting attention standing the hallway.”

 

She’s right, realizes Tony as he takes a look at the people in the hallway pretending that they aren’t trying to eavesdrop.

 

Tony shuffles into the office and collapses in an overstuffed chair. The woman places a Do Not Disturb sign on the outside of the office door and heads over to the kitchenette.

 

“Do you want some coffee Mr. Stark?”

 

She's an actual saint, thinks Tony. “I’d be eternally grateful Ms-“

 

“Harris, but please call me Carol.”

 

Carol hands him his coffee in a red and gold Stark Industries mug. “You don’t seem like the type that bothers with cream and sugar.”

 

She’s right. He practically inhales the coffee, not caring about how hot it is. It’s good coffee he realizes with delight. He spends a couple of seconds after he's finished wishing he hadn’t drank it so quickly. He stares at the bottom of his cup mournfully.

 

“To answer your question Mr. Stark, no I don’t find my job boring. If I did, I wouldn’t be working in HR.”

 

He's skeptical. How truthful is anyone when asked a question by someone who had the power to fire them? So he decides to pry a little more. “Are you sure? Because sitting in an office all day pushing paper doesn’t seem interesting.”

 

She laughs. “Do you even know what my job entails?”

 

He tries to think of something, anything in particular but all he’s doing is drawing a blank. Carol must figure out that he’s not coming up with anything because she says,

 

“Precisely. Now, engineering sounds awfully boring to me. But I’m sure that you’d be the first person to disagree with me,” she says as Tony prepares himself to interrupt her.

 

“But then again, I don’t understand what goes into it like you do. You do it because you love it and the work speaks to you. I’m not any different.”

 

“It’s just…” Tony heaves a gusty sigh. “I met a woman a couple of weeks ago, had a son in Sokovia doing mission work during the whole Ultron shitstorm. He didn’t make it out. Told me about how she’s worked all her life at a boring HR job at the State Department...”

 

“And you wanted to see if I was the same.”

 

Tony nods.

 

She looks at him with warm eyes and Tony finds himself unconsciously relaxing.

 

“Well, there are plenty of people in my field that don’t like HR. There is a lot of paperwork, a lot of wading through red tape and keeping an eye on the rules. And while I do like my job, I will be the first to admit that there are a lot of boring and frustrating bits. But that’s the same with any job. Though you’re not the CEO anymore, I’m sure that you still have to attend a lot of boring meetings and still do your fair share of paperwork.”

 

That’s a good point, muses Tony.

 

“All in all, if I didn’t like the career I was in, I would have found a new one ages ago. But thank you for asking Mr. Stark. It means a lot to know the owner of the company cares whether or not I’m happy at my job.”

 

“I do care," says Tony earnestly. "About all my employees.”

 

Carol’s smile is kind. Inexplicably Tony is reminded being young, and a cultured English accent comforting him through distressed sobs. It’d been a long time since he’s thought about Edwin Jarvis.

 

“I know. Stark Industries does a lot for its employees.”

 

Tony yawns, the lack of sleep over the last few days catching up with him.

 

“You can lie down on the couch if you want. You look like you could use the rest.”

 

He does as she suggests. Carol retreats into her office to finish up some work but Tony lies back on the couch and gets lost in his thoughts and old memories. He must drift off for a while because before he knows it, Carol is shaking him awake.

 

“Mr. Stark. I’m about to leave.”

 

He struggles not to yawn. Right. Normal people didn’t spend all day and night working. He blearily checks the time on his watch.

 

8:30.

 

“What are you doing here so late? Don’t you have plans?”

 

She laughs. “I just needed to finish up some loose ends that I didn’t want to put off until Monday. I am eager to get home soon, however. I have a date with some leftover Chinese takeout and a trashy romcom.”

 

They walk to the elevator in amicable silence. As the elevator reaches the lobby, she turns to him and says, “Good night Mr. Stark.”

 

“Goodnight Ms. Harris.”

**Author's Note:**

> So. I've been itching to write Tony Stark meets his HR department ever since I watched Civil War. While this is a quieter piece than I expected to write (HR people run a wide gamut of personalities), I really enjoyed creating Carol both as a means to explore a little bit of the emotional upheaval that Tony Stark has been experiencing since the first Iron Man movie as well as giving the field of HR itself a little more depth. 
> 
> I'm probably going to be writing more with her and Tony.


End file.
